Title: W. R. Bob Poage Collection. Series Description: I. Texas Senate, , 4 lin. ft.

Transcription

1 Title: W. R. Bob Poage Collection Series Description: I. Texas Senate, , 4 lin. ft. The State Senate Files series consists of four lin. ft. of printed material and correspondence covering a portion of Poage's career as a state senator from Poage served in the Texas House from and in the Texas Senate from Also included within the series is printed material and correspondence from Poage's unsuccessful run for the U. S. Congress in 1934 against then Congressman O. H. Cross as well as materials from Poage's successful 1936 congressional campaign. These files related to Poage's state senate activities primarily contain correspondence concerning appointments, job applications for state positions, and political matters within the 13th State Senate district (McLennan, Falls, Milam, and Limestone counties). Among these items are legislative files involving bills on a wide range of topics, including state responses to early New Deal programs. State level topics dealt with include horse racing, alcohol taxation, and the regulation of chain stores. There are also materials related to Poage's Texas Senate years in the Supplemental Materials added to his Papers several years after his death and after the bulk of his papers had already been processed. This later addition chronicles especially Poage's involvement with Central Freight in Waco and legislation related to intrastate commerce. II. U. S. House of Representatives, , 400 lin. ft. Following an unsuccessful attempt to unseat 11th district congressman O. H. Cross in the 1934 Democratic primary, Poage's second effort in 1936 succeeded. He quickly established himself as a supporter of the New Deal working exhaustively for rural electrification and rural telephone service during the 1930s and 1940s. Poage's tenure coincided with the rise to power of many fellow Texans, including Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn. Along with most other Texas congressmen, Poage opposed the efforts of the Dixiecrates in the late 1940s and remained loyal to the Truman administration. Poage's increasing political stature led to his being suggested as a candidate to succeed Senator Tom Connally in Instead, Poage remained in the House building up power and influence through seniority. Despite the defections of many prominent Texas Democrats to the camp of Republican Dwight Eisenhower, Poage steadfastly supported the Democratic ticket, advising Adlai Stevenson's campaign on farm issues and Texas politics in 1952 and 1956.

2 With the election of John Kennedy to the presidency in 1960, Poage was the favorite of influential Texans in Washington, as well as southern Democrats, to become the Kennedy administration's Secretary of Agriculture. However, Poage bowed out of consideration. In 1967, following the election defeat of Rep. Harold Cooley of North Carolina, Poage became chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, holding that position until Poage's agricultural expertise and safe Democratic district allowed him to become one of the party's traveling campaign speakers in farm state congressional campaigns throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Serving in the House for 42 years, Poage naturally accumulated a mass of materials about a variety of subjects. While most of these files date from 1951 to 1978, some material are from the 1940s and even a few are from the late 1930s when Poage first went to Washington. This series is subdivided into six subseries. A. Agriculture, , 128 lin. ft. Because of Congressman Poage's long association with the House Committee on Agriculture, a large volume of materials are naturally devoted to the work of this committee. This information is divided into eight sub-sections. The first is really extraneous material related to two Texas specific items : Guayule and Texas tidelands. The next five sections deal with agricultural legislation in the 89th through the 93rd congresses. The next section deal specifically with the Committee on Agriculture and the last section is a subject treatment of agriculture legislation. 1. Legislation Related to Texas, , 2.5 lin. ft. During World War II, there was an increased need for alternative sources of rubber. Poage's interest in this is shown in these files on the Guayule plant. While one file is dated 1930, the remainder of the files, three boxes, date from 1941 to When the war was over, interest waned. Another topic of interest to Poage was the controversy surrounding the Texas tidelands. Under President Truman, the income from minerals, notably oil, was assigned to the Federal Government. Not until Eisenhower became president was this policy reversed. The files cover this period from 1948 to Legislation, 89th 93rd Congresses, , 71 lin. ft. Each of these five legislative sections begins with a Finder File which contains carbon copies of replies to correspondence. The rest of the files in each section are arranged alphabetically by topic beginning with Agriculture Committee. Other topics covered include conservation, cotton, crackpot letters, dairy, farm programs, Food for Peace, forests, livestock, peanuts, potatoes, poultry, rice, REA, soybeans, sugar, tobacco, watershed projects, wheat and wool. The 89th Congress files also contain a number of materials related to Harold D. Cooley whose defeat in the 1965 election led to Poage's becoming chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

3 7. Legislation, Agriculture Committee, , 7.5 lin. ft. Poage became a member of the House Committee on Agriculture in 1941, serving continuously until his retirement in These files contain only a small of material from the 1940, there are files for every year from 1949 to The topics covered are general in nature dealing with the operation of the committee rather than with specific legislation as in the earlier files. Subjects such as committee organization, personnel, news releases, staff payroll, and trips are found in chronological order. 8. Legislation, Agriculture, by Subject, , 45 lin. ft. These files are in alphabetical order, then chronological within each topic. They deal with a variety of legislation handled by the Agriculture Committee from about 1951 to 1978 such as the Animal Human Act, cattle, conservation, cotton, dairy and poultry, farm programs, migrant labor, livestock and grain, oleomargarine, peanuts, pesticides, sugar, wheat, and wool. Files from some subcommittees are also included here : Conservation and Credit, Domestic Marketing and Consumer Relations, Family Farm, Forests, Farm Labor, Livestock and Feed Grains, and Oilseeds and Rice. B. Congressional Committees, , 87 lin. ft. When Poage first went to Washington, he was assigned to four committees : Census, Immigration and Naturalization, War Claims and Claims. Two years later in addition to these four, he was added to Flood Control and the District committees. However, in 1941 when he was assigned to the House Committee on Agriculture, the assignment he had originally wanted, Poage did not serve on any other committees during his remaining 38 years in the House. Unfortunately, there are no records remaining from these early committee assignments. The files are from twenty four committees and reflect Poage's interest in keeping materials sent to him from other committees as they related to his service as a congressman outside the Agriculture Committee. The bulk of the files are from 1951 to Each committee's files are in chronological order. C. Bills Sponsored by Poage, , 22 lin. ft. Beginning with his first term as a congressman, Poage sponsored/cosponsored many pieces of legislation. The first part of these files provide correspondence in chronological order concerning a number of these bills. Following this, there are copies of all the bills Poage sponsored from 1937 to Major legislation passed while Poage was a member of Congress includes the Rural Telephone Service Act (1949), Watershed Protection & Flood Prevention (1954), the Food for Peace Act

4 (1954), the Humane Slaughter Act (1958), the Great Plains Conservation Act (1960), the Poage- Aiken Rural Water & Sewer Act (1965), the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act (1966), the Agricultural Act of 1970, the Food Stamp Act Amendments (1970), the Farm Credit Act of 1971, the Rural Telephone Bank Act (1972), the Rural Development Act (1972), the Environmental Pesticide Act (1972), Agriculture and Consumer Protection (1973), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1974), and the Food and Agriculture Act of D. Legislation, Subject File, 1978, 13 lin. ft. The last year Poage served in the House, 1978, his staff maintained a legislative subject file. A wide variety of bills are covered from abortion to women's rights and everything in between including aging, agriculture, anti-vivisection, aviation, business, crime, drug abuse, energy, environment, and foreign policy. Some of these topics offer a sharp contrast to Poage's first Congress in At the end of this section are the files of the Agriculture Committee Administration Assistant, John Baise, for E. Constituent Correspondence, , 130 lin. ft. This series is divided into five sections: Publication Requests, Position Recommendations, Post Office Position Recommendations, Project Files, and Veterans. 1. Publication Requests, A major portion of any congressman's mail is letters from constituents. Poage was no exception and was careful to make sure each letter received a timely reply. Many wrote only to request a publication. Poage distributed numerous agriculture related publications and agriculture yearbooks. 2. Position Recommendations, Post Office Position Recommendations, Others wrote requesting recommendations for positions, especially as the local post master. These post office position recommendation files are further divided into urban and rural post offices. Recommendations are requested for post offices in 123 towns and 67 rural routes. 4. Project Files, Veterans, F. House Administration, , 17 lin. ft. The day-to-day operations of the U.S. House are documented in this section which covers only Poage's last four terms of service. Dear Colleague letters encouraged Poage to co-sponsor

5 specific legislation. The Legislative Calendar, Whip Advisory, and Doorkeeper Schedules all serve to show how the House conducted business during this period. This section is divided into five parts: General ( ), Dear Colleague Letters ( ), Legislative Calendar ( ), Whip Advisory ( ), and Doorkeeper Schedules ( ). III. U. S. Government, , 140 lin. ft. This major division includes materials outside Poage's legislative duties with the House. Most materials are from the Administrative Branch of the government and most date from the 1950s to the end of Poage's service in There are three divisions : Executive, Departments, and Commission and Agencies. A. Executive, , 1.5 lin. ft. These files contain information on the Central Intelligence Agency, the Office of Management and Budget, White House press releases, and White House correspondence related to Watergate including the Presidential Clemency Board. B. Departments, , 106 lin. ft. Of the twelve departments represented here, the Defense and Agriculture files comprise over half the materials. Health, Education, and Welfare files are 18 linear feet with the other departments containing less than four linear feet each. A wide range of topics is covered under each department illustrating the diversity needed by the congressman in order to keep abreast of all areas involved with government service. The twelve departments represented are the Agriculture Department ( ), the Commerce Department ( ), the Defense Department ( ), the Energy Department ( ), Health, Education, and Welfare ( ), House and Urban Development ( ), the Interior Department ( ), the Justice Department ( ), the Labor Department ( ), the State Department ( ), the Transportation Department ( ), and the Treasury Department ( ). The final section includes speeches and speech correspondence from 1961 to 1974). C. Boards, Commissions, and Agencies, , 26 lin. ft. The ninety-seven boards, commissions, and agencies represented in this section demonstrate the diversity of the Federal government as well as the difficulty any congressman has in keeping up with all the publications, correspondence, and other paperwork. The majority of these papers are from the 1970s. However, a number of them date from the 1950s and 1960s with two files from the 1930s.

6 IV. Office Files, , 145 lin. ft. The Office Files are divided into two major divisions : Texas Development Materials and General Office Files. The Texas Development Files contain items related specifically to Texas whereas the General Files deal with the day-to-day operations of a congressional office. A. Texas Development Materials, , 20 lin. ft. While the majority of these items date from the 1960s and 1970s, there are also items from the 1940s and 1950 as well as a few items from the 1920s and 1930s. These are arranged alphabetically by subject beginning quite naturally with agriculture. Among the fifty topics covered are education, energy, health, industry, transportation and welfare. In addition, half of the materials deal with water resources in Texas including the Texas Water Development Board, soil and water conservation, and an extensive treatment of the Texas tidelands controversy. B. General Office Files, , 125 lin. ft. These files serve as a catch all for anything not easily filed in another place. They are arranged alphabetically, beginning with a general "A" file. Most files date from 1951 to What happened to office files from 1936 to 1950 is unknown. In addition to correspondence for each letter of the alphabet, other topics in this arrangement include: Administrative Assistant (1978), Bicentennial ( ), Christmas cards ( ), Form letters ( ), Inauguration ( ), Invitations ( ), Newsletters, newsletter correspondence, news releases, and newspaper clippings (1950s-1978), National Federation of Independent Business ballots ( ), Office details ( ), Poage personal (1940s 1979), Programs ( ), Waco (1950s-1970s), and White House ( ). V. Political Files, , 20 lin. ft. The Political Files series consist of approximately 10 linear feet of correspondence and printed material primarily centering on the activities of Congressman Poage in the 11th District from Also prominently featured are political matters on the national, state, and local level, as well as within the Democratic Party. Filing procedures within Poage's office established two sections of the Political Files: Correspondence Files and Reference Files. Correspondence Files are not as limited as their designation would suggest. Ballot box filings, expense accounts, and advertising accounts all appear in the Correspondence Files. Reference Files include list of supporters and contributors, news clippings on political rivals and allies, and other categories of materials also present within the Correspondence Files. Both file groups are arranged chronologically.

7 Files dated from detail Poage's early years in Congress and his political efforts in the elections of 1936 and Correspondence during these years illustrate Poage's efforts to assemble a loyal political following through patronage and to gain political intelligence information through correspondence with numerous local observers throughout the district. Prominent events discussed include the attempted political come-back of O. H. Cross-- who had been congressman before Poage-- and the activities and impact of the New Deal in the 11th District. Items dated from the early 1940s reveal Congressman Poage's work on behalf of his district with the onset of World War II. Topics of correspondence include preparations for war within the district, the attempt to attract war production to the district, as well as constituent attitudes toward the war during the days of U.S. neutrality. Also evident from these files are the beginnings of Poage's emerging long-term friendships with such future congressional power players as Lyndon B. Johnson and George Mahon. State political developments also receive great attention in these files. Most interesting of these is the 1941 special election to fill the senate seat of the deceased Morris Sheppard. In this election Poage was a supporter of his congressional friend Lyndon Johnson against then Texas governor W. Lee O'Daniel and Congressman Martin Dies, Jr. The late 1940s brought a changing political landscape within the Democratic Party with the rise of the anti-truman "Dixiecrat" movement. Many Texas congressmen, Poage among them, wrestled with their roles in and positions toward this essentially southern movement. Like most Texas congressmen, however, Poage threw his support behind the national party and this political conflict on the national level is well documented in the Political Files. Interestingly enough, on the state level, little mention is given the controversial 1948 U. S. Senate election between Lyndon Johnson and then Governor Coke Stevenson. Politics in the 1950s changed dramatically in Texas with the carrying of the state by Dwight Eisenhower in the 1952 and 1956 elections. Poage, remaining loyal to his party, worked to counter efforts of Texans for Eisenhower, led by then Governor Allan Shivers. Poage also advised Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson in both campaigns on methods to overcome opposition within Texas, including changing his position on the Tidelands question. Also evident in the 1950s files is a growing gap-- if not in opinion, certainly in methods-- between Poage and other southern Democrats on such issues as Civil Rights, desegregation, Communism, and the Tidelands. The political turbulence in the 1960s comes through clearly in the materials from this decade in the Political Files. Poage, involved extensively in L.B.J.'s 1960 campaign for the presidency, is mentioned prominently as a contender to become John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Agriculture, though he is never nominated. During the 1960s, Poage becomes the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, greatly adding to his national visibility and political power. This change is reflected in the increasing number of items of a national nature within the Political Files. Letters within

8 the files include responses to Poage's published remarks condemning Senator Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential effort and supporting the actions of Chicago police at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The 1970s files focus on such events as the demise of the Nixon presidency, the addition of new counties to the district, and Poage's only serious election challenge in Political opponents such as Lane Denton and Jack Burgess, as well as up and coming Democratic politicians such as Dan Kubiak and Marvin Leath. Finally, Poage's retirement plans begin to take shape from , with the congressman keeping files on potential successors and the 1978 campaign which determined that successor. VI. Rural Electrification Administration/Brazos River Authority, , 2.5 lin. ft. The REA Files series consists of 1.5 linear feet of correspondence, printed material, and government documents dating from the late 1920s to the late 1950s. Most of the material dates from the time of the Second New Deal (late '30s) and the early World War II years. ( ). Items within the series detail the development and implementation of rural electrification, flood control, soil conservation, and rural telephone projects during the first two decades of Congressman Poage's tenure in Washington. Primary institutional sources of materials within the series are the Rural Electrification Administration and the Brazos River Authority. REA emerged during the Hundred Days period of FDR's first term in It primarily supervised the development of power cooperatives to bring electricity to the rural population. By the late 1940s, REA broadened its scope of operations to include rural telephone service development. The Brazos River Authority was originally established as the Brazos River District by the state of Texas in Following catastrophic flooding in 1913 and the enacting of new state constitutional provisions governing conservation in 1917, cooperative local efforts began to combat flooding. These efforts expanded with the coming of the New Deal and cooperation with the Works Progress Administration to construct power dams and water supply infrastructure. Also see maps following file listings. VII. Personal Materials, , 180 lin. ft. (plus 285 awards) The Personal Materials series is divided into nine sections: Travel Files and Diaries, Speeches, Card Files, Biographical Materials, Photographs, Supplemental Materials, Media Materials, Awards and Plaques, and Maps. A. Travel Files and Diaries, , 29 lin. ft. The Travel Files and Diaries consists of materials concerning Congressman Poage's extensive travels throughout the world from the years immediately after World War II until the 1970s.

9 Poage wrote in his autobiography that when he first went to Congress, he did not want to go on trips. However, near the end of WWII, he was given the opportunity to travel to England and then to France where he met Gen. Eisenhower. Thus began almost thirty years of travels as part of the Agriculture committee and the Interparliamentary Union. Nevertheless, after retirement, Poage wrote that he doubted that there was much value in any of these trips. Within the collection are brochures, printed material, correspondence, and maps organized by country. In addition, Congressman Poage's extensive and entertaining travel diaries are grouped here giving detailed descriptions of daily events. The Travel Files and Diaries break down into three sections: Travel Information, Travel Diaries, and Interparliamentary Union files. B. Speeches, , 8 lin. ft. The speeches of Congressman Poage in their original typewritten form were preserved by his office in binders ordered chronologically. Consisting of approximately three lin. ft., these speeches have been boxed while retaining the organizational scheme used by Congressman Poage's office. Within each binder is a list of speeches, subjects, and venues of delivery. Page numbers have been assigned within each of the binders. The speeches cover an array of concerns and subjects and include all speeches given by Congressman Poage on the floor of the House as well as those read into the record. In addition, all other speeches given in the district and around the country are included. Following these loose files are 12 bound volumes of these speeches. C. Card Files, , 34 lin. ft. Congressman Poage's Washington office staff maintained an alphabetical card file of correspondents. Each card gives the name and address, the date of the letter and what the letter was about. There are eight 3x5 card file files of "Out of District" correspondence and fifty-two boxes of District correspondence. However, there are no file numbers on the cards or letters so individual items cannot be readily retrieved from the current papers. D. Biographical Materials, , 19 lin. ft. Due to the size of this collection, the number of people who have worked on it, and the number of years involved in processing, biographical materials about Poage are found in the Travel Diaries and in the General Office Files. However, the items found in this section did not fit into either of these series, or were set aside during the years, or were considered miscellaneous. Therefore, this series brings together a number of categories that did not fit anywhere else or were previously left out. The Biographical Materials is divided into fifteen parts. 1. Articles, 1 lin. ft. The first box contains photocopies of news articles from the 1950s and 1960s. The second box contains copies of magazine articles including an issue of each magazine. Many of these contain cover photos of Poage.

10 2. Biographical Information, 0.5 lin. ft. This box is a collection of biographical materials that a researcher might find helpful if looking for an overview of Poage's life. 3. Books, 15 lin. ft. When Poage retired, he donated most of his personal library to Baylor. These books were cataloged and are part of the general collection in the BCPM. There is however, a card file of these books. Another group of books came to the BCPM in 1993 which were part of Poage's study at his Waco home. These books, about 14 lin. ft., have not been cataloged at this time (Feb., 1995). Current plans are for these books to be added to the Poage Reading Room near Poage's desk. The third set of books (1 lin. ft.) is texts Poage or his family used in school. 4. Campaign Materials and Pins, 1 lin. ft. One box contains campaign materials used by Poage in his early election campaigns as well as later elections. The second box contains campaign pins from presidential and congressional or persons other than Poage. Presidential campaign pins are included for candidates from Adlai Stevenson to Jimmy Carter. 5. Cards, 1.5 lin. ft. Poage kept many membership cards, individual calling cards, complementary passes, banquet tickets, credit cards, and place cards. These have been arranged by topic but not chronologically or alphabetically within each topic. 6. Correspondence, 1 lin. ft. The first box contains Poage's post-congressional correspondence for 1981 and These letters provided a look at the transition Poage went through from Congressman to retired Congressman. Additional letters from this period have not been found. The second box contains letters between Poage and the Texas Collection from 1961 to 1979 discussing the transfer of his papers to Baylor which began in the early 1960s. 7. Guest Registers, 1 lin. ft. There were guest registers Poage's Washington office as well as at a number of special events. 8. Library Development Council, 1 lin. ft.

11 The first box is general correspondence regarding the raising of funds for the Poage Building at Baylor. The second box contains board minutes and correspondence from the Development Council for the library. 9. License Plates, 0.5 lin. ft. These license plates are from presidential inaugurations and Poage congressional plates. 10. Manuscripts, 6 lin. ft. After Poage retired, he spent much of him time writing five books. This section contains the rough drafts, photographs, and manuscripts for some of these. Copies of the published books are also included. 11. Oral History, 1 lin. ft. Following Poage's move to his office at Baylor, Baylor's Oral History Department conducted a series of interviews with Poage about his long congressional career. The first four volumes were opened while Poage was still alive and contains an index. The fifth volume, sealed until Poage's death in 1987, is now available and is also indexed. 12. Presentations, 3 lin. ft. Poage was given a number of pens by presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter commemorating the signing of significant legislation. On Poage's many travels, he received several special presentation albums from local officials. 13. Scrapbooks, 3 lin. ft. Beginning in 1928 Poage maintained scrapbooks of news articles about his work. The last scrapbook in this set is In addition, Articles, Box 1572, contains news articles from the 1960s and supplemental materials contain news clippings from 1965 to 1969 in box Voting Records, 1.5 lin. ft. Bound volumes record every vote by Poage during his congressional career from 1937 to Desk Prior to Poage's retirement, a number of friends contributed to buy his desk as a gift for him. After his retirement, the desk was used by Poage in his office in the Poage Library building. Following his death, the desk was moved to the Poage Reading Room where it is arranged as Poage left it. Also stored in the drawers are a number of personal items. There are also two other desks in the library that were used by Poage earlier in his life.

12 E. Photographs, , 11 lin. ft. Congressman Poage collected over 1400 photographs. Some are in notebooks and others are in files. All of these have been incorporated into one alphabetical list with location codes. Some additional photographs are included in the supplemental materials while framed paintings and photographs not related to Poage but that were part of his collection are stored on the mezzanine. F. Supplemental materials, , 11 lin. ft. These materials were delivered to the BCPM in the fall of 1993, fifteen years after the arrival of the bulk of the collection and after major processing had been completed. Due to inadequate storage of these materials, many papers had to be discarded because of weather, water, or vermin damage and "original order" no longer existed. Therefore, rather than attempt to incorporate these items into the existing files, the materials were grouped under the following supplemental series : Congress, Law Practice, News Clippings, Poage Personal, and Texas Legislature. Separate collection and series statements were created for these papers and the papers were added to the end of the existing collection. 1. Congress, , 0.5 lin. ft. Most of these papers are from the 1930s with one from 1945, one from 1956 and three from the 70s. They cover an assortment of topics from Poage's first speech as a congressman to campaign accounts in the 70s. Of particular interest is one folder concerning FDR's inauguration in 1945 and a folder of letters from Poage's congressional office in Waco in Law Practice, , lin. ft. These papers are mostly from the 1930s when Poage was in practice with Pat Neff, Jr. A few dip back into the late '20s but none go beyond 1936 when Poage was elected to Congress. These appear to be the only papers left relative to Poage's law practice. Two boxes are related to Poage's relationship with Central Freight, a Waco based company, and their attempt to petition the state for wider coverage by their trucks. Another large group of papers chronicles the legal affairs of the Fred Frizzell family. Fred was an injured WWI veteran, one of nine children. However, he was the only child to assume financial responsibility for his elderly parents. 3. News Clippings, , 0.5 lin. ft. These news articles do not duplicate those already in Poage's collection which end in These clippings fill in 1965 to There are also a few articles related to the driver's license law in 1935 when Poage was in the Texas Senate. 4. Poage Personal, , 4 lin. ft.

13 Anything that relates to Poage more so than any of the other series is found here. It includes a number of cards : credit cards, membership cards, political cards, Christmas cards and Christmas card lists. Correspondence with Poage's family includes one letter from his father in the 1899 and one from his mother as early as 1900 reporting Robert's first tooth at eight months of age. Of special interest are two boxes of letters from Poage wife, Frances, beginning in 1934, prior to their marriage, continuing to These chronicle the events in both their lives while Poage was in Washington and Frances was in Waco as well as when Poage was off on one of his many travels. Also included are four boxes of correspondence and documentation concerning Poage's many property holdings in Central Texas from the late 1920s until the 1970s. Other items include numerous insurance policy folders and information about passports, shot records and travels. 5. Texas Legislature, , 1.5 lin. ft. This series covers a short span of years from around 1930 to 1936 when Poage was a Senator in the Texas Legislature. While there is some general correspondence, most of the files deal with particular legislation such as the Motor Carrier Law. Other legislative topics represented include Old Age Pensions, Open Saloon Bill, Sales Tax Bill, and the Liquor Bill. The final file in this series deals with the Texas Centennial Committee in G. Media Materials, , 19 lin. ft. This series is divided into two sections, recordings and historic newspapers. 1. Recordings, , 3 lin. ft. A variety of formats were utilized by Congressman Poage to record his speeches and campaign spots. This series includes fifty-two reel-two-reel tapes, four films, eight videos, five cassettes, and five long playing records. The finding aid includes the date, the subject, and the number of minutes for each recording. 2. Historic Newspapers, , 16 lin. ft. Congressman Poage saved newspapers he believed had "historic" headlines. These 278 papers have been listed alphabetically by the city of publication but are filed the way Poage had them. The date, major headline and box number are also listed. While the majority of these papers are from the 1960s and 1970s, there are a few earlier ones. Two issues of the Woodville, Mississippi Republican are from 1848 and 1881 and one issue of the Jackson, MS Weekly Clarion is also from The Hindenburg tragedy is covered in the Philadelphia Record of May 7, The assassination of John F. Kennedy issues have been saved as well as those covering the death of Lyndon B. Johnson. Other issues cover city centennials and significant anniversaries of Texas towns. The headlines stories of most of these newspapers could be photocopies and the originals discarded or offered to the Texas Collection.

14 H. Awards, , (285 items) As with any public official, Congressman Poage received numerous plaques, awards, certificates, degrees, and presentation photographs. These have all been grouped together under the generic designation: awards alphabetically by the organization making the presentation as well as a numerical list. A supplemental group of materials received in the fall of 1993 including some certificates and large photographs were filed with the existing awards on Range 14. "Awards." Some of these have been hung in the W. R. Poage Reading Room while others are on the walls of the BCPM. The remainder are filed on Range 14. The finding aid provides a list of these. I. Maps, , 60 lin. ft. (244 titles) One of Congressman Poage's hobbies was collecting maps. So much so that he endowed a special map room in memory of his wife in the Texas Collection at Baylor. He also donated a number of maps and funded the purchase of others. Nevertheless, there are still several hundred maps related to his work with American agriculture that remain a part of the BCPM. These maps have been combined with others that continue to arrive from the U.S. Forest Service into a general Map Collection housed in map cabinets with a separate finding aid. VIII. Sample and Discard, , 60 lin. ft. Many materials accumulate in a congressman's office which have limited archival value. The Report to the Society of American Archivists by the Ad Hoc Planning Group on a Manual for Congressional Papers in October, 1983, included A Framework for Archival Decisions with Respect to Appraisal and Disposal of Materials in Congressional Collections which addressed the difficult and controversial subject of what to keep and what to discard. More recently, the Minnesota Historical Society published a Report of Congressional Papers Appraisal Committee in 1993 dealing with similar issues and providing a detailed list of materials found in congressional collections and possible disposition of them. The following materials are generally agreed to have limited archival value. Therefore, lists have been made of these items and they can now safely be sampled or discarded. A. Academy Applications, , 12 lin. ft. All applications received by congressman Poage during his years of service in Washington are filed in these boxes in alphabetical order. Each file contains the name of the applicant, date of birth, home town, county, academy applied for, and year of application. Many congressional collections do not retain academy applications. These may be sampled and discarded. B. Bills and Reports, , 6 lin. ft.

15 These boxes contain loose copies of Bills and Reports of the 95th Congress in 1977 and 1978, Poage's last term as a Congressman. They are filed numerically but are not foldered. Since these are all printed in other sources, they could be discarded. C. Comptroller General Reports, , 21 lin. ft. Representing only the last term that Poage served, these Comptroller General Reports date from around February, 1976 to June 22, 1979 which was after Poage left office. These reports are not necessary to the collection and may be discarded. D. Periodicals, 1978, 15 lin. ft. Congressman Poage received subscriptions to numerous magazines. These boxes contain multiple copies of 73 magazine titles in alphabetical order received in The Finding Aid lists each title and the issues on file. There is no indication that these represent all the subscriptions received. Since most of these magazines exist in complete series in Baylor's Moody Library, there is probably little need to retain these copies. E. Periodical Samples, 1978, 6 lin. ft. This series contains samples of magazines that Congressman received during the course of his last year in office and represents the wide diversity of materials received. Most of these periodicals are from 1978 while a few are from 1977 and 1979 and a very small group are from other years. The Finding Aid contains a complete list of over 1200 titles in this sample file. This list was typed from a card file completed at an earlier date. The samples themselves may now be discarded or dispersed to other Baylor libraries. Series List: I. Texas Senate II. U. S. House of Representatives a. Agriculture i. Legislation Related to Texas ii. Legislation, 89th Congress iii. Legislation, 90th Congress iv. Legislation, 91st Congress v. Legislation, 92nd Congress vi. Legislation, 93rd Congress vii. Legislation, Agriculture Committee viii. Legislation, Agriculture, by Subject b. Congressional Committees i. Appropriations

16 ii. Armed Services iii. Banking and Currency iv. Budget v. Defense vi. District of Columbia vii. Education and Labor viii. Foreign Affairs ix. General x. Government Operations xi. House Administration xii. Interior and Insular Affairs xiii. Interstate and Foreign Commerce xiv. Judiciary Committee xv. Merchant Marine and Fisheries xvi. Post Office and Civil Service xvii. Public Works and Public Transportation xviii. Rules Committee xix. Science and Aeronautics xx. Standards of Official Conduct xxi. Veterans Affairs xxii. Ways and Means xxiii. Special Committees c. Bills Sponsored by Poage d. Legislation, Subject File e. Constituent Correspondence i. Publication Requests ii. Position Recommendations iii. Post Office Position Recommendations iv. Project Files v. Veterans f. House Administration i. General ii. Dear Colleague Letters iii. Legislative Calendar iv. Whip Advisory v. Doorkeeper Schedules III. U. S. Government a. Executive b. Departments i. Agriculture Department ii. Commerce Department iii. Defense Department iv. Energy Department v. Health, Education, and Welfare vi. Housing and Urban Development vii. Interior Department

17 viii. Justice Department ix. Labor Department x. State Department xi. Transportation Department xii. Treasury Department xiii. Speeches and Speech Correspondence c. Boards, Commissions, and Agencies i. Agency for International Commerce ii. Bicentennial iii. Atomic Energy Commission iv. Civil Aeronautics Board v. Civil Defense Administration vi. Civil Service Commission vii. Commission on Paperwork, Federal viii. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ix. Community Services Administration x. Consumer Federation of America xi. Cost of Living Council xii. Defense Production Administration xiii. Displaced Persons Committee xiv. Economic Stabilization Board xv. Energy Research & Development Administration xvi. Environmental Protection Agency xvii. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission xviii. Export-Import Bank, South Africa xix. Farm Credit Administration xx. Federal Aviation Administration xxi. Federal Communications Commission xxii. Federal Council for Science & Technology xxiii. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation xxiv. Federal Election Commission xxv. Federal Energy Administration xxvi. Federal Home Loan Bank Board xxvii. Federal Land Bank xxviii. Federal Maritime Commission/Administration xxix. Federal National Mortgage Association xxx. Federal Power Commission xxxi. Federal Railroad Administration xxxii. Federal Reserve Bank xxxiii. Federal Security Agnecy xxxiv. Federal Trade Commission xxxv. Federal Works Agency xxxvi. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission xxxvii. Foreign Operations Administration xxxviii. General Accounting Office xxxix. General Services Administration

18 xl. Government Printing Office xli. Indian Claims Commission xlii. Inter-American Development Bank xliii. International Trade Commission xliv. Interagency Task Force for Indo-China xlv. Interstate Commerce Commission xlvi. Library of Congress xlvii. Mutual Security Agency xlviii. National Advisory Council on Extension & Continuing Education xlix. National Aeronautics and Space Administration l. National Archives li. National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse lii. National Council on Aging liii. National Credit Union Administration liv. National Endowment for the Arts lv. National Forest Reserves Commission lvi. National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities lvii. National Gallery of Art lviii. National Guard lix. National Housing Agency lx. National Labor Relations Board lxi. National League of Cities lxii. National Mediation Board lxiii. National Production Authority lxiv. National Railroad Passenger Corporation/AMTRAK lxv. National Science Foundation lxvi. National Securities Resources lxvii. National Security Training Commission lxviii. National Water Commission lxix. Nuclear Regulatory Commission lxx. Office of Civilian Requirements lxxi. Office of Defense Mobilization lxxii. Office of Economic Opportunity lxxiii. Office of Price Administration lxxiv. Office of Rent Stabilization lxxv. Office of Emergency Preparedness lxxvi. Office of Personnel Management lxxvii. Peace Corps lxxviii. Price Commission lxxix. Reconstruction and Finance Corporation lxxx. Securities and Exchange Commission lxxxi. Selective Service lxxxii. Small Business Administration lxxxiii. Smithsonian Institute lxxxiv. Supreme Court lxxxv. Tariff Commission

19 lxxxvi. Tennessee Valley Authority lxxxvii. United Nations lxxxviii. U. S. Arms Control and Disarmament lxxxix. U. S. Civil Rights Commission xc. United States Postal Service xci. U. S. Railroad Retirement Board xcii. Veterans Administration xciii. Wage Stabilization Board xciv. War Claims Commission xcv. War Production Board xcvi. Water Quality Association xcvii. World Bank IV. Office Files a. Texas Development Materials b. General Office Files V. Political Files VI. Rural Electrification Administration/Brazos River Authority VII. Personal Materials a. Travel Files and Diaries i. Travel Information ii. Travel Diaries iii. Interparliamentary Union Files b. Speeches c. Card Files d. Biographical Materials i. Articles ii. Biographical Information iii. Books iv. Campaign Materials and Pins v. Cards vi. Correspondence vii. Guest Registers viii. Library Development Council ix. License Plates x. Manuscripts xi. Oral History xii. Presentations xiii. Scrapbooks xiv. Voting Records xv. Desk e. Photographs f. Supplemental Materials i. Congress ii. Law Practice iii. News Clippings iv. Poage Personal

20 v. Texas Legislature g. Media Materials i. Recordings ii. Historic Newspapers h. Awards and Plaques i. Maps VIII. Sample and Discard a. Academy Applications b. Bills and Reports c. Comptroller General Reports d. Periodicals e. Periodical Samples